Kristine Kofoed, from the United Way of Northern BC took the stand at the regular meeting of Kitimat City Council on Tuesday, September 5th to talk about the things the United Way does for Kitimat.

“The simplest answer is: We help people. We help families, babies, kids, moms, dads, older adults, people with health problems, people coping with depression and abuse, substance abuse, mental illness. Our three focus areas are helping people who are struggling financially back on their feet, we help people get healthy and stay healthy both mentally and physically and we help kids receive the education and opportunities they deserve,” said Kofoed.

She stated the United Way helps 1 in 3 people across BC. They do this by engaging the community and asking it what issues are important to them.

They held a meeting on July 18th at Kitimat General Hospital and the response to what Kitimat needs is to open a Volunteer Bureau so community groups and service providers could cohere better. She also stated the service providers have been having difficulty with the number of people coming to Kitimat.

“Our approach is community centred, impact driven and outcome measured. The United Way invests resources where they are needed the most and have the most impact for the most people. This level of helping is made possible because thousands of people across Northern BC generously make donations to the United Way,” said Kofoed.

Kofoed stated last year, the United Way invested $1,890,000 in communities all over northern BC. This year, there goal is to raise $1.2 million but the need is greater then that. To properly address the needs, they would need $2.2 million.